WWE 2K14 Cover Art and Trailer Revealed

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2K Games on this night’s RAW have released the first cover art featuring one of the WWE Superstar The Rock and a debut trailer for their upcoming wrestling game WWE 2K14. Check out the trailer and revealed cover art below.

Cover Art: 

Debut Trailer:

While being developed for the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3, the game will be released on October 29, 2013 in North America and November 1, 2013 in the United Kingdom.

Google officially launches Product Listing Ads aka Google Shopping in India

Google has officially launched Product Listing Ads in India that include richer product information, such as product image, price, and merchant name, without requiring additional keywords or ad text from the advertiser.

We had earlier reported that Google was testing the search feature in India, in May. 

The feature is known as Google Shopping in the US and other markets.

"The new format on Google.co.in under 'product listing ads' menu will help users to find and compare products and prices with their images and links," the company said in a statement.

The new format will also help shoppers turn their intentions into actions benefiting e-commerce partners. For advertisers, clicks on Product Listing Ads are charged on a cost-per-click (CPC) basis, according to Google.

"As millions of shoppers across the country use our search facility to research and find products to buy online or offline, the format will enable merchants to showcase their products with price to shoppers for taking informed decision," the statement noted.

What this essentially means is that when you search for a product, Google displays product listings from online retailers on the right side of the results page complete with product images, pricing and direct links under "Shop for 'Product name' on Google."

When we entered the search term 'Samsung Galaxy S4', Google displayed shopping listings from Flipkart and Naaptol. It's not just limited to mobile phones and tablets and we got shopping results for a wide range of products including apparel, LED TVs, air conditioners, refrigerators, among others. Online apparel store, Myntra is another partner as we also spotted results from the site.

On clicking the information icon accompanying the listing Google elaborates the reason why it displayed these products as: "Based on your search query, we think you are trying to find a product. Clicking in this box will show you results from providers who can fulfil your request. Google may be compensated by some of these providers." 

In June 2012, Google announced that it would rename its Product Search feature for users in the US to Google Shopping. It also said that it was changing the way these search results worked.
 
The transition to the new model was completed in October.

Search results are now influenced by how much retailers and advertisers paid to Google under its Google Shopping program. In the past, product search results were based mainly on relevance and the program was free. Google offers an API to participating companies through which they can manage listings.

HTC Desire 200 unveiled: 3.5-inch display, 1GHz processor, 5MP camera

 Following a string of leaks over the last few days, HTC has finally unwrapped its new smartphone - the Desire 200. The phone has a 3.5 inch HVGA display and is powered by a 1 GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon processor. Running Android with HTC Sense, the phone has 512MB RAM.

The HTC Desire 200 has an internal storage of 4GB. The phone has an expansion card slot that supports a microSD card up to 32GB.

The HTC Desire 200 has a 5 megapixel camera with fixed focus. The phone integrates the Beats Audio technology to deliver quality sound. It has a 1230 mAh battery. The phone supports regular SIM. The company has not yet revealed pricing and availability details.

The HTC Desire 200 has an internal storage of 4GB. The phone has an expansion card slot that supports a microSD card up to 32GB.

Looking at the specs of the phone, it is believed to be a budget phone. Also, HTC says, "you don't have to pay premium prices to get an incredible HTC smartphone."

Waterproof Sony Xperia ZR available online for Rs 29,990

 Unveiled last month, the Sony Xperia ZR is now available on the e-commerce site Snapdeal.com for Rs 29,990.

Visually, the Xperia ZR has quite a bit in common with the current Xperia Z and ZL, with the circular lock button on the middle of the side of the device, the volume rocker below that and a dedicated camera button near the bottom.

It has a 4.55-inch capacitive touchscreen, a 13 megapixel camera and a front VGA camera. The phone has an internal storage of 8GB, which is expandable up to 32 GB via a microSD card. It has 2GB RAM.

It has a 4.55-inch capacitive touchscreen and a 13 megapixel rear camera.

Running Android 4.1 Jelly Bean, the Xperia ZR is powered by a 1.5GHz quad-core Snapdragon S4 Pro processor by Qualcomm. It is available in 3 different colours - black, white and pink.

Apple shows off revamped iOS 7 at WWDC: All you need to know

Craig Federighi, senior vice president of Software Engineering at Apple demonstrates the new activation lock security feature in iOS 7 during the keynote address of the Apple Worldwide Developers Conference. AP

Apple showed off its latest platform, iOS 7 at its WorldWide Developer’s Conference (WWDC), its mobile OS for the iPad and the iPhone.

The new platform is a complete design overhaul and is the biggest change to the mobile OS since the iPhone was introduced in 2007. It’s still in beta however and available only for developers, and will be released in the fall to the general public.

So what is new in iOS 7 ?

First and foremost Design: According to Apple, the new interface is purposely unobtrusive and they have done away with conspicuous ornamentation, and removed unnecessary bars and buttons.

In fact every single app from Games Centre to how folders look on iOS 7 has been redesigned. The design is definitely flat like it was rumoured, and some of Apple’s most iconic apps look very different now. For instance the Music app has a reddish-background with the music symbol on it, the wooden background is gone from NewsStand.

The weather app is animated now. In the demo, the app actually showed Thunder, and cloudy weather for the pertinent conditions and it looks very cool and pretty.

iOS 7 is here. Screengrab

Also the familiar Messages app of iOS 6 and older versions is gone. We now have blue and Grey bubbles on a white background, so yes, the familiar blue background is also gone.

In a sense the new iOS 7 is drastic and for a lot of Apple users it won’t feel the same ever again. Some might whisper the dreaded A-word and point out that Apple is just trying to catch up to Google, but we feel that Apple’s design change was much needed and looks refreshing.

Notification Centre: The Notification Centre is still on top but its much less clunky than in the previous versions of iOS. And yes, the centre will give details about new mail, missed calls, etc. It also has a new feature called Today which will give you a summary of everything you have lined up for the day. Users can also access the Notification Center from any screen, including the Lock screen.

Control Panel: There’s now a control panel at the bottom and users can just slide upwards to access the settings. You can turn on or off Airplane mode, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, and Do Not Disturb, volume settings etc from here. Also adjust screen brightness from the Control Panel. This works even in Lock Screen mode. Access to the flashlight, timer, calculator, and camera is also available from the Control Panel.

For a lot of users, this might seems like Apple is trying to copy Android but there’s no doubt that the new Control Panel seems much more convenient and we’re glad Apple introduced it.

Multitasking: If you have an app that you’re always using, iOS 7 will make note of that and make sure its updating in the background. According to Apple, So if you tend to check your favorite social app at 9:00 a.m. every day, your feed will be ready and waiting for you.

Camera:The Camera now comes with inbuilt new features and you can edit photos as you shoot them. Filters in Camera are coming only to iPhone 5, iPod Touch 5th generation, while Filters in Photos app will be available on iPhone 4 and above, iPad (3rd generation or later), iPad mini, and iPod touch (5th generation).

Photos app: Instead of unorganised mess of photos, this will now store photos according to the time, place they were clicked. Photos will be stored in albums. You can tap years and all your shots for that year will fill the screen.

AirDrop: Apple’s answer to NFC, this will let users shares videos, email, photos, etc with their friends on iOS. You can just click on the Share button on any app that supports AirDrop, tap to share, select the person you want to share with and it will be done. AirDrop uses Wi-Fi and Bluetooth. All transfers are encrypted, so what you share is highly secure.

Apple’s Craig Federighi had joked during the keynote that users won’t have to go around bumping phones to share files and photos. AirDrop is available on iPhone 5, iPad (4th generation), iPad mini, and iPod touch (5th generation) and requires an iCloud account.

Siri in iOS 7 has a new voice. Also a new interface. And sound wave at the bottom.

Find My iPhone The new feature ensures that if your phone is stolen and somebody tries to turn off Find My iPhone, they will require your Apple ID and password. Also the Apple ID and password are will be required before anyone can reactivate the phone.

Lumia EOS: Is Nokia’s 41MP PureView camera finally coming to Windows Phone?

Lumia EOS: Is Nokia’s 41MP PureView camera finally coming to Windows Phone?

At long last, our smartphone photography dreams have been answered: It seems Nokia is finally gearing up to release a version of the Lumia 920 with the 808 PureView’s 41-megapixel camera, dubbed the Lumia EOS. You might think that 41 megapixels is overkill for a smartphone camera — even the best Canon DSLRs have less! — but take a look at the sample photos below and then let me know if you still feel the same way.

While the new phone isn’t yet official, a flood of leaked images from China suggest that the phone is currently being mass produced. So far, we’ve seen yellow, red, and black models, and they all look very much like Nokia’s polycarbonate Lumia 920 — but with an absolutely huge hole for the PureView 41-megapixel sensor.

On the hardware side of things, this new Lumia 920-PureView mashup, preliminarily dubbed the Lumia EOS, will presumably have similar internals to the Lumia 920, 925, and 928 — i.e. a dual-core Snapdragon, a 4.5-inch 1280×768 display, and 1GB of RAM. And then there’s the camera.

The 808 PureView camera sensor is 41 megapixels, but that equates to “only” 34MP when shooting 16:9 images (7728×4354) or 38MP at 4:3 (7152×5368). The two images that you see above are full-res 16:9 and 4:3 images respectively. Because the full-res photos clock in at around 10MB each, which is really too big for sharing, there’s a second mode that provides 7:1 oversampling to create a very-high-fidelity 5MP image. (Oversampling is where the input from a number of pixels is averaged/combined to create a single superpixel). In theory, these oversampled images should look like the ones above; you just won’t be able to zoom in as far. For more details, see our original story detailing the 808 PureView.

Rounding out the specs, the leaked photos also suggest that there’s a xenon flash — and yes, the large 41-megapixel sensor, along with its larger lens, creates quite a bulge. Price-wise, we would expect the new Nokia to have a price premium over the Lumia 920, but it probably won’t be that expensive (the 808 PureView was €450, or around $600).

Perhaps most importantly, though, this 41-megapixel sensor will be hooked up to Windows Phone 8, rather than the 808 PureView’s defunct Symbian Belle OS. More exciting than that, though, is Nokia’s new Smart Camera software, which debuts on the Lumia 925 and will soon come to the Lumia 920. When you pair up a 41-megapixel camera with software that can remove moving objects, switch faces between photos, and automatically pick the best photo from a 10-shot burst, you revolutionize smartphone photography.

Upcoming Volkswagen Polo GT TDI diesel hot hatch spotted testing

The Volkswagen Polo GT TSI among the most exciting things to have happened to the Indian hatchback segment in recent times. Regulars here would know that we feel that the new GT TSI is a special car and reported in considerable detail when Volkswagen India launched the much hyped 1.2 TSI variant of the Polo some days back.

Powering the new VW Polo GT TSI is a turbocharged petrol engine displacing 1200cc and having enough power and torque to put many larger motors to shame. With this, the Polo GT TSI became the logical successor to the now defunct Polo 1.6 petrol. The Polo GT TSI’s motor is mated to a 7-speed automatic transmission that helps the car in being the fastest and the quickest B segment hatchback on sale today. Everything about the Polo GT TSI looks good, until you remind yourself about the ever rising petrol prices.

Now, it seems like the Volkswagen India is preparing itself to launch another new variant of the Polo that is aimed at that segment of hot hatch buying lot which is scared of high fuel prices. Seen here in the pic is a Polo GT TDI test mule that has been spotted in Pune.

The GT TDI, very much like the petrol variant, gets 15 inch ‘Estrada’ alloy wheels and a rear spoiler. The car is expected to be powered by the same 1.6 litre diesel engine that powers the Vento. There also are chances that VW India might be working on a new 1.5 litre motor based on the 1.6 litre engine. This would enable the manufacturer to benefit from the excise duty cuts provided by the Govt. of India. Whatever the case might be, there are good chances that the Polo GT TDI will have similar performance figures to the GT TSI. What it won’t have though, would be the ability to burn huge holes in your pockets

BlackBerry Q10 launched in India, priced at Rs 44,990

Sunil Lalvani, MD of BlackBerry India, at the launch of BlackBerry Q10.

The premium smartphone for physical keyboard enthusiasts, BlackBerry Q10, was launched on Thursday.
This is the most expensive phone in the company's lineup, with the price being Rs 44,990. The phone will be available in the market from June 7. Earlier this year, the touchscreen BlackBerry Z10 was launched for Rs 43,490.
The Q10 has a 3.1-inch touchscreen display along with the QWERTY keyboard. The phone has a dual-core Qualcomm Snapdragon S4 processor, an eight-megapixel camera and 16 GB internal memory. The resolution, at 330 pixels per inch, is very high for a screen that small. The phone is capable of 1080-pixel video recording and BlackBerry says the battery lasts 13.5 hours on 3G.
BlackBerry said the Q10 has noise cancelling microphones. So if users make calls in noisy outdoor environments, they can expect to be heard clearly.
Users who love video calling can use the feature using the phone's 2-megapixel front camera. The black version of the Q10 features a rubberised, bendable back panel. Q10 has some of BB10's best features, such as swipe upwards to type words, BlackBerry Hub to manage all alerts, etc.
At the launch, Sunil Lalvani, MD of BlackBerry India, said: "The BlackBerry Q10 smartphone gives customers the assurance of typing on a classic BlackBerry keyboard, which combines with BlackBerry 10 to offer them a powerful and unique mobile computing experience. There are 76 million BlackBerry users and 61 million BBM users across the globe. Users send 10 billion BBM messages per day, which is double that of the nearest competitor. We have $2.9 billion in cash and zero debt. We are ready to push onward and deliver the best mobile computing experience to users."

Specifications:

Qualcomm Snapdragon S4 dual core processor
16 GB internal memory
3.1 inch touchscreen display
720x720 pixels at 330 pixels per inch

Google release stock Android keyboard as standalone app in Play Store

It seems that Google has started to take the Nexus experience and provide bits and pieces of it to users on non-Nexus Android devices. To begin with, Google has released its Google Keyboard app for phones and tablets running Android 4.0 (Ice Cream Sandwich) and above. The app on the Google Play Store is now available for English speaking countries while Google says that more locales will be added soon.

The application gives you the stock Android keyboard that comes with Nexus devices. Much like how keyboard applications like Swiftkey and Swype work, you can download the Google keyboard application from the Play Store in order to replace the existing keyboard on your Android device. It is however important to note that while these popular keyboards are paid, Google has launched the Google keyboard free of cost.

The stock keyboard was updated during the launch of Jelly Bean and comes with features such as Gesture typing and next-word prediction. With gesture typing you basically glide through letters without lifting your finger and when done you can lift your finger to finish a word. You can also tap the microphone on the keyboard to compose messages with voice typing.

The keyboard comes with support for 26 languages. One major missing point that most users claim is the absence of emoticons, something that OEMs like Samsung, LG and HTC add to their keyboards.

For Nexus enthusiasts the stock keyboard coming to the Play Store is certainly positive news. Third-party applications that claim to give a Nexus keyboard experience are available on the Play Store, but there's nothing like the real thing. With the official Google keyboard now available for download, all these have surely become obsolete.

The keyboard is presently not available in India for download. But staying in line with Google's promises, we expect a roll out soon.

iPad Mini vs Google Nexus 7: Which Is Better?

iPad Mini vs Google Nexus 7: Which Is Better?

Anyone who is looking for a tablet in the small                                 category could be considering the Google Nexus 7 or the Apple iPad Mini. If so choosing between the two will not be easy. You will of course have to consider the battery life, the display and the price.

The 16GB Apple iPad Mini comes in at $329 and it is easier to carry around that the full sized iPad. On the other hand if you are into customisation then you may want to go for the Google Nexus 7. You can pick up the Wi-Fi version with Jelly Bean 4.2 for around $199. Both of these tablets are great and they both come with superb display, of course this doesn’t make choosing any easier.

If money is tight then the Google Nexus 7 would be the best. The Kindle Fire HD and Nook HD are the only tablets in the same price range. Google of course think about customers and they keep production costs down, while Apple would never consider this. If you choose the Google Nexus you should make savings of around $129. You can get the Google Nexus 7 3G version for $299 and the Apple iPad Mini LTE for about $459.

The iPad Mini beats the Google Nexus 7 for design, however not by much as the Google Nexus 7 has a soft touch back. The tablet is heavier than the Apple iPad Mini though.

The Google Nexus 7 offers ppi that is higher and this should mean it wins. However there was some cutbacks and the calibration of the display is not what is could have been and so it has an effect on the colours and sharpness. The Google Nexus 7 offers 216ppi while the Apple iPad Mini has 163ppi. The colours and text are sharper on the latter. The iPad Mini also have the largest display, so viewing photos and videos is a better experience.

You do have to choose between iOS and Android. If you go for the Google Nexus 7 you get Project Butter, which means the screens change smoothly and apps run smoothly too. However when the tablet was updated to Jelly Bean 4.2.2, it slowed down. Google will correct this of course.

With the Apple iPad Mini you get the A5 dual core processor, with the Google Nexus 7 this is a quad core 1.2GHz processor. When tests were made by GeekBench, the Google Nexus 7 had twice the speed of the Apple iPad mini. However the Apple iPad Mini is not slow and it packs in enough speed to run iOS.

The Apple iPad Mini has a GPU that is better and the Google Nexus 7 comes with the best processor. The Google Nexus 7 is the best for customisation as there are many launchers, ROMs, widgets and keyboards for it.

Over in the App Store you can get more apps that have been optimised for tablets and the Apple iPad Mini than what is on offer at the Google Play Store for the Google Nexus 7. So your choice here would have to be software or apps.

You should be able to get up to 10 hours from the battery of the Apple iPad Mini, while with the Google Nexus 7 this would be around 8.5 hours.

The choice between the two will be a tough one and it could come down to which of the operating systems you want, how much you can afford and whether or not you want LTE.